I have heard countless people talk about how they tried many different programming tutorials until they found the one that worked for them. And sometimes it almost sounds as if the others were all useless but the one they found had some magic component that was able to teach them programming that the others just didn’t have.

I have definitely seen some books & tutorials that were better than others, I am yet to find a learning resource that didn’t either teach me something new or deepen my understanding on something.

I think part of the inability to see the value in some resources comes from impatience & not understanding that new concepts take repetition to understand.

So, if you are working through a programming resource and the production quality is at least bearable & keeping your attention, finish it. If you just finished one & you are worried that you didn’t retain or really “get” all the concepts on the book or course, go through it again or go through another one on the same topic.

I believe your first beginner book or tutorial or video course, will feel useless in some ways, because no one can “grasp” computer programming or any truly brand new concept in one book our course. Ruby was the first langage that I went deep in, and I went through several beginner Ruby books & tutorials before I felt comfortable with the concepts covered in beginner books. None of them lacked some magic component, I just needed the repetition.